Julius OkorieThe year 2024 is about to become history. As usual, it is time to take stock to underscore the highs and lows of the year.
For Sports in Nigeria, it has been a mixture of good and the bad, the impressive and not so impressive.
Here are some areas worth remembering in no particular order in the course of the outgoing year:
Exploits Of The Man Called Ademola Lookman:
Super Eagles and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman emerged African Footballer of the year after impressive run that benefited both country and club.
The former Leicester City ace was superb at the last AFCON in Cote d Ivoire. At club level he helped Atalanta break 63 jinx by winning the last Europa final at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen. He delivered a hat-trick at the final to show the class he is made of.The 27 year old brushed aside four other contenders to emerge African footballer of the year. He did not only takeover from compatriot Victor Osimhen who clinched the award last year, he also joined the league of Nigerian players viz late Rashidi Yekini, Victor IKpeba, Nwankwo Kanu, Emmanuel Amuneke and Victor Osimhen who are proud winners of the title in the past.
He had earlier finished 14th in this year’s Ballon d’Or further underscoring his effectiveness on the pitch. Little wonder his market value shot up from €30 million to €55 million after the award.
Super Eagles Qualification for AFCON 2025:
The Super Eagles saved Nigerians the usual near hypertensive mood during qualification for major championship, by clinching the ticket for the 2025 AFCON even with a match to spare.
Before the final match against Rwanda, the Eagles led by Austin Eguavoen had already qualified for the continental fiesta billed for Morocco next year.
That feat made losing the last game to Rwanda inconsequential thus saving Nigerians the usual agony of waiting for the last minute and engaging in the usual permutations with if so and so team loses and so and so team wins then Eagles will qualify.
It was a huge relief if you recall how Eagles missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after losing the playoff against Black Stars of Ghana at the Abuja national stadium.
D’Tigress Make History At The Olympics:
The Nation’s women basketball team, D’Tigress made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics by reaching the basketball quarterfinals for the first time.
Rena Wakama was named Best Coach of the Women’s Olympic Basketball Tournament, highlighting D’Tigress’ turnaround from their winless performance in Tokyo 2020.
The feat achieved in Paris by the team turned out to be a jinx breaking and history making one, as D’Tigress became the first African team of any gender to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Olympics.
Paralympic Team To The Rescue:
Nigeria’s Paralympic team claimed seven medals, 2 gold, 3 Silver, and 2 bronze at the 2024 Paris Games, solidifying their position as a global para-sport powerhouse.
Folashade Oluwafemiayo broke a world record with a 166 kg lift in para-powerlifting, while Isau Ogunkunle and Flora Ugwunwa added to Nigeria’s medal tally. It was a huge relief considering that Team Nigeria in the main Olympics failed to win a medal of any colour despite parading 88 athletes competing in 12 sports in Paris, France.
Nigerian U-19 Cricket Queens: Breaking New Barriers:
In a historic feat, Nigeria’s U-19 women’s cricket team, Yellow Greens, advanced to the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup in Malaysia, securing Africa’s sole spot in the tournament.
Their unbeaten run through the qualifiers held in Kigali, Rwanda, marked a significant step for Nigerian cricket, with the team overcoming Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Malawi to secure qualification. The 2025 ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup holds from 18th January – 2nd February. Nigeria will competing in Group C alongside New Zealand, Samoa and South Africa.
Falcons Return To The Olympics:
Super Falcons broke 16 years jinx to make a return to the Olympics in 2024 in France. The last time the team played at the Olympics was at the 2008 edition. After that it took multiple failed efforts to qualify until it happened in 2024.
READ ALSO: AFCON 2025: Super Eagles To Know Group Opponents January 27
Although the team failed to go beyond the group stage in Paris after losing 3-1 To Japan in last group match, breaking the return jinx was considered a plus for the team
Below Par Show: Olympics Without Medals:
The 2024 Olympics in Paris, France was a nightmare for Nigeria, despite pumping in a whooping N12 billion into participating in the said Olympics and parading 88 athletes including World 1oom Hurdles title holder, Tobi Amusan, Team Nigeria finished without a medal of any colour.
As a matter of fact controversy over how Favour Ofili was left out of the 1oom race overshadowed the event in the Nigerian camp. Former Minister of Sports, Senator John Enoh, vowed to investigate the matter and hammer NOC officials that were found guilty of negligence.
The investigative panel recommended payment of N5 million to Ofili, but there are no signs that any of the officials found culpable has been hammered.
Nigeria/Libya CLash:
Eagles may have qualified for the 2025 AFCON to be held in Morocco, but it came with a sour taste in the mouth in the course of the journey.
A qualifier between Super Eagles and Mediterranean Knights of Libya almost snowballed into a diplomatic row following inhuman treatment meted on the Nigerian team by the Libya authorities during return leg of the two legged encounter in Libya.
The Nigerian delegation had their flight diverted to Al Abraq Airport, over 200 kilometres from Benghazi, the original destination. Aside from that the team was left stranded for over 17 hours in very harsh condition forcing a pull out from the qualify and eventual takeover of the case.
The Confederation of African Football Disciplinary Committee subsequently awarded Nigeria a 3-0 victory in the abandoned qualifier, ruling that Libya breached Article 31 of the AFCON Regulations and Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
Anthony Joshua’s Defeat:
Nigeria born British Pugilist, Anthony Joshua’s dream of reclaiming his heavyweight title hit the rocks with a bang after a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium. Dubois, the IBF heavyweight champion, knocked Joshua down twice before delivering the decisive blow in the fifth round.
The defeat marks Joshua’s second career knockout loss, dimming his chances of regaining a world title for the third time.
Despite the loss, though overall, he may not be said to have a bad record having won altogether 28 fights including 25 knockouts losing four including two knockouts. The last fight AJ won was on March 8, 2024, when he beat Francis Ngannou by knockout in the fifth round at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh
Stepping Into 2025:
As the New Year 2025 gears up to takeover, general improvement in all departments of sports is being expected. The Super Eagles came close to realising the dream of winning AFCON for the fourth time in Cote d Ivoire but failed to do so, winning it at the next edition in Morocco is achievable.
The Scrapping of the Ministry of Sports and return of National Sports Commission (NSC) has been hailed by experts who insist that it will create opportunity for sports to be managed by professionals and not civil servants. Now that there has been a rebirth with Shehu Dikko who no new comer is to sports administration now in charge of the NSC, it is hoped that all areas of sports hitherto crawling like the snail, will begin to increase the tempo, because all eyes will be on 2025 and the positive difference that will come with it.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
